Rural-mail-delivery apparatus.



U. G. LEVASSEUR & D. M. MORRIS. RURAL MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED, MAR. 26. 1914.

1,113,451. Patented 0013.13. 1914.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO PHOTO LITHO" WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITEDSTATES rAT N'r OFFICE. I

CLEMENT c. LnvAssnun AND DANIEL ivnraonnis, or MASTELLE, IOWA.

To all 107mm it may concern.

Be it known that we, CLEMENT C. LnvAs- SEUR and DANIEL M. Monnis,citizens of the United States, residing at Mastelle, in the county ofJones and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rural-l/lail-Delivery Apparatus; and we do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same. 1

This invention relates to the delivery of mail on rural mail routes; andhas for its object to provide convenient means whereby mail may betransported from the place of deposit at the roadside to the house moreor less remote therefrom.

The nature of the invention is fully disclosed in the description andclaim following, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a general view of a mail-carrier embodying ourinvention, as seen in perspective. Fig. 2 illustrates in perspective themanner of mounting and supporting the trolley and draft wires atintermediate posts. Fig. 3 is afragmentary elevation,

showing the mounting of the sheave and ad j acent parts in the bracketshown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows the terminal apparatus at the roadside.Fig. 5 shows the terminal and pulling apparatus at the house. Fig. 6shows the mounting of the mail boXand its connection with the pull-wire.

In the drawing, 1 designates apost set at the road-side, convenient tothe man who collects and delivers mail on rural routes. 2 is a similarpost set at the house, which in many cases is remote from the mail-routeroad. These posts are of a suitable height to make the mail-box easilyaccessible when mounted in the manner to be described presently. Betweenthese terminal posts are set intermediate posts 3, which should be highenough to give head clearance under thewires strung thereon. Cross-arms4 are attached to the terminal posts, the upstanding members 5 beingdesigned merely to bring the trolley-wires 5 connected therewith toabout the level of the draft-wire -6. The connection of thetrolley-wires at the other terminal is best made with a spool 7 mountedto turn on a bracket 8, and provided with a ratchet 9 and pawl 10, of asimple and well known construction, by, which means the RURAL-MAIL-DELIVERY AFPARATUS.

a 1 Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 26, 191.4.-fiei'gial No. 827,325.

Patented ea. 13, 1914.

trolley-wires maybe drawn taut. The intermediate posts are providedwithbrackets ll, which in practice are formedof bar steel bent to theangular form shown. An up-.

right portion 12 is adapted to be bolted to the post. The lower end ofthis forms a loop 13, with a diagonal terminal 145 springing therefrom.In the loop is mounted a small sheave 15 to carry the draft wire, whichis lifted therefrom asthe mail-box passes it. The diagonal extension isfor the purpose of catching the wire and returning it to normalposition. To prevent any possible catching of the wire between thesheave and the bracket the extension is provided with a guide-plate 16,the lower end of which lies close over the outer flange of the sheave,and this carries the wire back to the,

groove of the sheave. From the horizontal upper arm of the bracketdepends a clownhorizontal arm 18 terminating in an upturned lug 19. Tothis lug is pivoted a stirrup 20 having terminal eyes 21 to take thebody of the trolley wire. The purpose in wardly bent member 17, having ashorter pivoting the stirrup is to permit it to rock a little as themail-box passes alon it. This allows the wire, which necessarily sagssomewhat between posts, to accommodate itself to t-he weight andmovement of the box, so that in approaching the stirrups the box iscarried all the way along a smooth and slight curve, instead of meetingan ab-' rupt curve or hump where the wire oins the stirrup, as wouldbethe case, to some extent, if the stirrup were rigid. The eifect is.

to permit the box totravel on the trolley under with no'obstruction atany point, and with no tendency to jump as it passes the points ofsupport at the posts.

To the mail-box 22 is attached ahanger 23 termed with a loop at 241containing a pair of small sheaves 25 adapted to run on the trolleywire. In practice a pair of boxes is used, so that one may always be atthe road and another at the house. To bracket 26 is attached theends ofa draft-wire 6.

In practiceit is found that if said wire is connected directly to thebracket the vibration tends to break the connection. To

avoid this the draft-wire is connected to loose rings 2?, which yieldunder the v1bra-.

bolted to the roadside post. The other sheave is attached to a shaftmounted in the bearing 32, and at the lower end is provided with a bevelgear 88 meshing with a similar gear 24 on a shaft 35. To this shaft isat tached a crank 36. By the turning of this crank the mail boxes may bealternately transported from the roadside to the house, and to anydesired distance, in a manner so evident as to need no explanation.

The apparatus makes it'possible for those living at a considerabledistance from the regular mail-route road'to have the advantage of freedelivery, even in cases where the houses are not otherwise accessiblefrom the mail road.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

Combined with supporting posts and trolley and draft-wires,substantially as dey CLEMENT o. LEVASSEUR. DANIEL M. MORRIS.

WVitnesses:

C. H. BROWN, EVELYN A. BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C."

